FOUNTAIN VALLEY : City Votes to Add Two Police Officers

Adding two more police officers to the force will help to increase safety for the community, the City Council agreed this week.

The council unanimously voted to hire the officers at a cost of $123,606, which includes salary and benefits for the first year.

“We’re pretty proud to be able to say we’re able to hire two officers--especially when people are concerned about having more officers on the street,” Councilman Guy Carrozzo said. “I think what it does is the efforts of the city are being put where the citizens want it.”

The cost for the officers is offset by increased revenue from fines and the efficiency in processing the citations--a result of changes in the way citations are processed because of a new state law, city officials said.

Mayor John J. Collins also said that “prudent management and risk-taking of the City Council” made the hires possible.

Police Chief Elvin G. Miali said that the additional officers will help in the response time to emergency calls. The new hires will bring the number of sworn police officers to 65, he said.

Miali said recruitment will end in February and the new officers should be on the streets by March.

Miali said that during 1993, the city’s overall crime rate fell by 7.2%, with the exception of homicides. He said the city had six homicides last year, including one case in which two men were shot outside a Vietnamese cafe that alarmed nearby residents.

In addition, Miali said the department realized the need for police coverage to accommodate the changes in the city’s demographics, increases in senior citizens living in the city, additional traffic volume and an increase in overall crime trends.

For example, the total number of calls for service for 1990 was 35,056, compared to 44,001 for 1993.

Violent crimes, gang activity and graffiti have also increased, he said.

Miali said the department has adapted to the changes by using such strategies as soliciting senior citizen volunteers and incorporating administrative duties with patrol and investigative duties for supervisory personnel. A special enforcement team was also developed to concentrate on gang, graffiti and tagging activities.